Author: Joe Soriano

Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.

Ranking the 5 best Liverpool players of the season so far
28Oct By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Ranking the 5 best Liverpool players of the season so far

Liverpool have dropped all the way down to seventh in the Premier League after suffering another terrible defeat over the weekend, falling 3-2 to Brentford in what can only be described as a shoddy defensive performance. But as much negativity as there is surrounding the Reds, let's try to focus on the positive and rank the five best players of the 2025/26 season so far. 5. ST Hugo Ekitike New transfer Hugo Ekitike has easily been the best of the new crop, even though Florian Wirtz has been nowhere near as bad as some people would like you to think. The Frenchman just squeezes super sub Federico Chiesa off the list, as the young striker has scored a trio of goals and shown a lot of quality on the ball in terms of creating his own chances off the dribble. 4. LW Cody Gakpo A favori...
Read More
La Liga Player of the Season Rankings after Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler hook up again
19Oct By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

La Liga Player of the Season Rankings after Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler hook up again

Real Madrid watched Barcelona outlast their local rivals Girona on Saturday night in La Liga action, and they were able to find the same late goal in order to edge past a consistently stingy Getafe. And lo and behold, it was, once again, the pairing of Arda Guler and Kylian Mbappe to hook up and give Real Madrid the late goal they needed for a 1-0 win, maintaining their slight lead in the table over Barcelona heading into next weekend's Clasico. With all due respect to the Real Betis attacking duo of Abde and Antony, the top five La Liga Player of the Season rankings list thus far is dominated by the Clasico rivals. But who is first? And which team has more candidates in the top five? Let's take a look. 5. Barcelona LW Raphinha Raphinha has been playing just as much on the right...
Read More
Ballon d’Or Rankings after Harry Kane conquers Der Klassiker
18Oct By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Ballon d’Or Rankings after Harry Kane conquers Der Klassiker

Harry Kane scored the opener at the near post from a corner kick for Bayern Munich in the first half of Der Klassiker vs. Borussia Dortmund, but he saved his best moment for last with a David Beckham-esque long ball to the left for Luis Diaz, which eventually led to Jobe Bellingham's comedy of an error and Michael Olise's sliding winner. Bayern's 2-1 win over Dortmund came as a result of a team effort, but, once again, Kane was a star performer, drawing six fouls and even making a crunching slide tackle near his own penalty box in the waning minutes of the match. After Kane stepped up again for the Bavarian giants in their biggest home game of the Bundesliga season, let's take stock of where the England international ranks among the Ballon d'Or candidates. 5. Barcelona RW Lamine Yam...
Read More
Premier League Player of the Season Rankings after Erling Haaland bags another brace
18Oct By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Premier League Player of the Season Rankings after Erling Haaland bags another brace

Manchester City star striker Erling Haaland has made it 11 on the season in just eight games, as he bagged yet another brace in the Premier League to help lift the Citizens to a 2-0 win over Everton and another Player of the Season candidate, former Man City teammate Jack Grealish. Where does Haaland stack up in the Premier League Player of the Season race for the 2025/26 season so far after scoring two more goals to the good? Here are the latest updated rankings, smack dab in the middle of Matchday 8. 5. Sunderland RB Nordi Mukiele The average Premier League fan probably doesn't know who Nordi Mukiele is, but one of the new additions to this excellent Sunderland defense has quietly been extraordinary at right back, picking up where he left off from his days in the Bundesliga at RB Le...
Read More
Ranking the 5 best Premier League wingers of the 2025/26 season at the October break
14Oct By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Ranking the 5 best Premier League wingers of the 2025/26 season at the October break

With seven matchdays done and dusted in the 2025/26 Premier League season and a natural break in the action for October's World Cup and European Championship qualifying matches, it's time to take stock of the season thus far. The winger position has become just as much of a marquee post as the striker position in the Premier League these days, and while most people are still fixated on goals and assists, more and more fans are going back to the days of respecting the wingers who carry the ball tirelessly and win their one-on-ones to open up the entire team. In that spirit, let's rank the top five best wingers of the 2025/26 Premier League season so far, specifically ranking them based only on their displays in the current campaign. 5. Yankuba Minteh, Brighton Yankuba Minteh was alw...
Read More
Rating the 10 most expensive summer transfers of the 2025/26 Premier League season so far
11Oct By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Rating the 10 most expensive summer transfers of the 2025/26 Premier League season so far

Now that we are in the second break of the 2025/26 season, it's time to take stock of all the biggest signings in the Premier League from the summer 2025 transfer window and see if they have been worth it so far. And if not, what will it take for them to meet their expectations based on their fees. Using the data provided by Transfermarkt (all figures in euros), we have ranked the 10 most expensive Premier League signings of the summer market and given a player rating from 0-10 based solely on how the players have performed through the first seven matchdays of the 2025/26 campaign. 10. Arsenal ST Viktor Gyokeres, 65.8M Viktor Gyokeres has been dunked on by rival fanbases with slander names like "Mediokeres" and even a comment that he looks like he's playing football with jeans on. ...
Read More
Real Madrid Player Ratings vs. Atletico: Even Kylian Mbappe can’t save the day
27Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Player Ratings

Real Madrid Player Ratings vs. Atletico: Even Kylian Mbappe can’t save the day

Despite being torn apart by Atletico Madrid for the first 45 minutes at the Wanda Metropolitano, Atleti's missed opportunities combined with Real Madrid's incredible finishing from superstars Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler meant that Real actually held the 2-1 lead heading into half time. However, it all fell apart for Real Madrid in the second half, as they surrendered four unanswered goals to lose their first game of the 2025/26 La Liga season, falling to Atletico Madrid for the first time in years. Atleti's 5-2 win was the result of suffocating second half defense and clear superiority on set pieces, as Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso clearly didn't do his homework on how to stop Atleti on corner kicks, knowing full well that Real have been horrible in this area for years. It was...
Read More
2025/26 Premier League Player of the Season Rankings after Matchday 5
22Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

2025/26 Premier League Player of the Season Rankings after Matchday 5

Now that a full five Matchdays have been completed in the 2025/26 Premier League season, it's time to take stock of the best players in the English top flight right now and rank the 10 best Premier League Player of the Season candidates. All statistics are courtesy of WhoScored.com 10. Liverpool ST Hugo Ekitike New Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike has been getting all the shine while Alexander Isak works his way into the starting lineup, and the Frenchman has been absolutely tremendous all-around and exactly as advertised. With three goals through five matchweeks, Ekitike is already a touch away from equaling Darwin Nunez's goal-scoring total last season, and we're not even two months into the season. On top of the goals, Ekitike is averaging two dribbles completed per game and is...
Read More
Every La Liga club’s most overpaid player in the 2025/26 season
21Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Every La Liga club’s most overpaid player in the 2025/26 season

La Liga may not have the same figures thrown around or as much money involved as the Premier League, but when you look across the landscape of the Spanish top flight, you'll still find plenty of contracts and wage figures. Using data provided by FBRef.com, let's take a look at the most overpaid player on every La Liga team for the 2025/26 season. Girona Why on earth Girona signed Axel Witsel remains a mystery. I get the idea of a club worried about relegation signing veteran players, but Witsel hasn't been a starting-caliber player in ages and was a disaster for Atletico Madrid. At 4.16 million euros per season, Witsel is Girona's highest-paid player and is 36 years old. He has no real, defined position in 2025/26, and while he was once a top defensive midfielder at the Champions L...
Read More
Every 2025/26 Champions League contender’s biggest X-Factor
20Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Every 2025/26 Champions League contender’s biggest X-Factor

The Champions League is the time for all the brightest stars to come out and write their legacies in leading their clubs to victory, as the biggest legends of the modern game like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Toni Kroos, and so many others have taken the opportunity to etch their names in history with remarkable Champions League campaigns. But Champions Leagues are also just as much about the X-Factors who step up in key moments or have career years to defy expectations. This is where the Alvaro Moratas, the Francesco Acerbis, and the John Stoneses of the world make their mark. Who could be the biggest X-Factors in the 2025/26 Champions League campaign? Here are eight players to watch from the ...
Read More